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Employment Opportunities in Agriculture and Allied Sectors

10-10-2020 00:00:00       7829

The farm sector in India is going through a rapid transformation due to applications of crop science and technology, a host of policy reforms, and expansion of agribusiness opportunities.

The country has experienced a record production of food grains in the recent years. Perhaps most astounding is the growth of horticulture, high-value crops, dairy and livestock. Even during the COVID-19 induced lockdown, the sector has recorded a remarkable performance which has fuelled expections for an agriculture- led recovery of the Indian economy.

Recently, the Government of India launched an ambitious programmes for agri infrastructure, credit, market reforms, minimum basic income, and risk management, which are expected to improve profitability off arming and farm ventures. The landmark reforms in agricultural marketing are expected to attract more private/foreign investments, reduce market unpredictability and improve price realisation. Every ninth agritech startup in the world is from India and these are growing at 25 percent annually.

Opportunities for youth in the agriculture and agribusiness sector abound. Technological break through, increased concern for food safety and hygiene, innovations in agricultural marketing has created a range of new jobs across the agri value chain. A raft of smart technology applications based on AI, Big Data, Internet of Things have enabled farmerentrepreneurs to take smart decisions, adopt better farm management practices and access the best of market opportunities.

Precision farming has created a demand for services of skilled professionals in farm machinery, greenhouse farming, pesticide and fertiliser application, micro-irrigation and solar energy. Organic farming has generated renewed interest worldwide and in India, organic products are growing between 25 and 30 percent annually. In the fisheries sector, scientific cultivation and management practices such as cage culture, recirculation aquaculture systems, bio-floc culture, ornamental fisheries, seaweed cultivation, coldwater fisheries and others have opened new window of opportunities. Genetic improvement, disease control, feeding and management practices have led to a record increase in the production of dairy and livestock products. This growth has triggered higher demand for professionals associated with scientific farm management, animal health, breeding and insemination, etc. Urbanisation and improved standard of living have created demand for gardeners for beautification of city landscapes. Record production of food and heightened awareness about quality has created various specialised job roles in agri warehouses, coldstorage, aggregation points. Market reforms would create additional demand for highly skilled professions associated with forward trading, risk analysis, commodity management, etc.

Despite this rapid expansion of opportunities and demand for skilled professionals there exists a huge skill gap and the supply of skilled labour falls short of the demand. All-India data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (2018-19) shows that only 11.3 percent of the workforce in the age group of 15-59 years have received some form of Vocational Education and Training (VET) and share of formal VET is just 2.39 percent. However, the picture is changing now due to a rapid expansion of short-term training infrastructure, improved coverage, and opportunities for socially and economically weaker sections, greater funding availability and higher participation of the industry and private sector.

The institutional framework of the skill ecosystem has undergone radical change as a response to the increasing demand for skilled labour in a liberalised economy, growing concern about the widespread skill mismatch, need for alignment of training programmes to international standards, making skill training aspirational and attractive to the youth, bringing a synergy between all skill development efforts among different ministries and State governments, and improving the scope for more private sector participation.

Some of the important milestones of the past few years are the foundation of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in 2008 and the launching of Skill India Mission in 2015. Agriculture Skill Council of India (ASCI),the nodal agency for designing the course curriculum, content, assessment and certification of skill programmes under the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF), was set up in 2013 and works under the aegis of NSDC.

Central Schemes: It was observed that the main challenges of skill development among the youth are the high cost of vocational training, less flexibility and mobility associated with vocational education. In order to make skill courses more accessible to the youth, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana or PMKVY was launched with an aim to train 10 million youth between 2016 and 2020. Agriculture training can be taken in 182 different job roles under PMKVY. Other than PMKVY, opportunities for short-term training in agriculture-related job roles are available under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushal Vikas Yojana (DDUGKY), Ajeevika under National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), and Barefoot Technician Programme under Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). All youth aged 18 years and above who are citizens of India are eligible for these programmes. Besides, the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has a special scheme Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture for aspirational youth in the agriculture sector.

State Schemes: Apart from the Central schemes, States run their own forwardlooking and aspirational skill development schemes that are NSQF-aligned and linked to employed creation. Some such schemes in which ASCI is involved in curriculum design, assessment, and certification are the Utkarsh Bangla scheme of West Bengal, Placement Linked Skill Training Programme of Assam, SURYA scheme of Haryana, Employment Linked Skill Training Programme of Rajasthan, Entrepreneurship and Employment Linked Skill Training Programme of Uttarakhand, skill training Programmes under APSSDC, UPSDM, and BSDM.

Skill courses in schools and colleges: The New Education Policy 2020 as cleared by the Union Cabinet has proposed to make VET as an integral part of school and higher education in a phased manner. This is a historic reform that have potential to address the longstanding issues of integrating vocational and academic education, ensure mobility, and make skill programmes aspirational. At present vocational subjects can be taken at the secondary (classes 9-10) and higher secondary levels (classes 11-12) under Samagra Siksha Abhiyaan of the Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD). Till now there 1527 schools across 22 States, which run agriculture courses assessed and certified courses.

Skill-based programmes can also be taken as part of the higher education system under the University Grants Commission (UGC). The opportunities for doing a certificate, diploma, B.VOC. or M.VOC courses has expanded considerably. In these flexible creditbased skilling programmes there is also scope for multiple entries and exit enabling the candidates to enter job markets at the end of a course and re-join skilling programme at a higher level to upgrade skill competencies. At present, there are 130 UGC affiliated colleges where NSQF aligned skill-based training courses in agriculture are being run.

Apprenticeships: The National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) has significantly improved the scope, access, and effectiveness of the apprenticeship programme. Apprentices are now eligible for a monthly stipend of Rs. 5,000-9,000 depending on educational qualification and experience. There are a wide range of opportunities provided by agri-input companies magrilogistics, warehouses, packhouses and commodity management; crop insurance, organised retail, and technology-intensive modern farms, which require skilled labour to manage their activities. Aspirants can self-register in the NAPS portal (https://apprenticeshipindia.org/). The duration of apprenticeship ranges from 6 months to 3 years

Involvement of industry: Industry participation in the skill ecosystem is critical for bridging the skill gaps, inservice and apprenticeship training, training of trainers, and absorption of trained candidates. Certificates under Skill India Mission carry a greater weight and wider acceptability as all the agriculture modules have been approved by professional bodies and largest industry players. Certified skilled candidates have also been able to secure international placements.

Support for entrepreneurs: Many of the youth want to start their business enterprises after the training programme. Opportunities are aplenty under venture capital funds of different ministries. Initiative for Development of Entrepreneurs in Agriculture (IDEA) under RKVY, Venture Capital Finance Assistance (VCA) of Small Farmers' Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC), ASPIRE scheme of the Ministry of MSME, Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP) are a few initiatives aimed at boosting entrepreneurship. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has issued a directive to its member banks to prioritise bank loans to the ASCI certified candidates.

Keeping with the needs of rapidly evolving training industry a host of blended learning courses has been introduced which can be accessed at https://eskillindia.org/. The online modules have made new skills, technology and knowledge easily accessible. Furthermore, there is host of support mechanisms for skilled candidates to get the right job placements through Rojgar Melas and job portals like ASEEM (https://smis.nsdcindia.org/) of NSDC and (https://agriplacements.in/) of ASCI. All these efforts have been successful to capture interest of the youth, attract young people to undergo training, set up successful enterprises in farming or avail placement with the best class of employers. Success stories are galore in fisheries, dairy farming, vermicompost, mushroom, organic farming where attending a short term course has led to significant increase income, prouctivity and quality of work.

Important strides have been made in capacity building and empowerment of farmers through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in collaboration with State Governments, autonomous bodies, and industry leaders- Maharashtra Agri Skilling Programmes (2.5 lakh farmers in group farming), Kerala Agro-industries Corporation (40 thousand in solanaceous (warm season) crops, coconut, and gardening), National Fisheries Development Board (12 thousand in fisheries), Spices Board (20 thousand in organic farming and vermicompost), Tea Board (20 thousand tea growers), Assam Skill Development Mission (20 thousand in sericulture, tea, bamboo plantation), Patanjali Bio Research Private limited (80 thousand in group farming and organic cultivation), etc.

In conclusion, I would say that agriculture in India is a much happening sector, reverberating with a new dynamism and excitement. The sector is poised for a big leap forward towards a sustainable future. India's skill ecosystem has geared up to be an effective tool to harness the power and enthusiasm of youth who are at the forefront of this transformation.

-Employment News
Dr. Satender Singh Arya
10-10-2020




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